


Job Interview

by FridaysChild



Category: Batman Beyond
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-15
Updated: 2011-08-15
Packaged: 2017-10-22 15:39:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/239639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FridaysChild/pseuds/FridaysChild
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Because no one's ever done a "Matt is Robin" fic before. Ever. But first there's the job interview.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Job Interview

Oddly enough it had been Barbara who’d talked him into it. A trial, anyway.

His brother has been obsessing over Batman. He hasn’t put together Terry’s identity yet, though with the sheer number of articles he's been reading, Terry's worried that it's only a matter of time. Bruce isn't very good at advice that isn’t “Punch him in the kidneys” or “the supervillain’s weakness is grilled cheese sandwiches.” Barbara is better when he wanted wisdom from an older, experienced type.

More importantly, someone with the particular experience of being part of the bat family.

She’s met Matt a few times. “Your brother reminds me of a certain young lady I trained. Wore the Batgirl costume for many years after me, but if I hadn’t given it to her, she would have worn another. You’ve studied your superhero history, right?”

More hours than he can count, both at Bruce’s urging and off-hours. Gotham U offers a course he's thinking about taking next semester for his history requirement about the history of superheros. He could probably ace it in his sleep.

Then again, he might end up studying himself and that might be a little weird.

“Her name was Stephanie Brown. She started as Spoiler.”

This rings a bell. “Robin, then Batgirl?”

Barbara nods. “She was fired as Robin. Bruce’s training style didn’t suit her. Don’t tell him I said that, I’ll be able to feel him glaring all the way across Gotham.”

Terry laughs. She looks pleased - that he can still laugh, maybe.

“Batgirl was my costume, though, more than Bruce's. I gave it to her. She was the best Batgirl we ever had because she was single-minded in her determination. Everyone we knew tried to discourage her from wearing a costume but she didn’t listen to any of us.”

“You think Matt’s like that?”

Barbara raises a brow at him. “Like I said, I’ve met the kid. I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t have something already.”

Terry laughs again, dismissively this time. “No way, I’d know.”

Barbara raises her brow at him. “Because you’re home so much during the wee crimefighting hours?” Terry wonders suddenly if she’s heard something, or knows about something he doesn’t. “If he’s going to do it anyway, you’d better make him safer than he’s going to be in a homemade costume and sub-par fighting skills.”

 

“ _Slag_ it,” Terry says. He’d left home rather conspicuously that night and gone straight to a nearby rooftop. It’s not half an hour later he sees Matt sneaking out in what might be the worst ninja knock-off costume he’s ever seen. There’s small tributes to Robin, though, subtle; a flash of yellow lining just inside the sleeve, the green domino glued on inexpertly. It’s heartbreakingly easy to sneak up behind him and gas bomb him.

“Slag it,” Terry says again, closing his eyes as he hefts his thirteen year old brother on his shoulder and heads for the cave.

 

Max is there, looking over something with Bruce. She’d finally gotten her hands on the Batgirl suit - and oddly enough, that was Barbara’s fault, too. “She’s earned the right to wear it,” she’d said. “Further, she doesn’t go looking for trouble, like you do, but she helps and sometimes trouble finds her. Give her the tools to defend herself.”

Batwoman - “We’re the same age, Terry, and if you’re old enough to be Batman I’m old enough to be Batwoman, and also, the name Batgirl is so not threatening” - doesn’t patrol often. She’s deep in their first semester of college, studying business and technology. It’s never talked about but mutually understood that she’s going to run Wayne-Powers for Terry someday, and probably work in Batgear development. Not that anyone will call it that. It’ll have some code name, like Defensive Technology. Business has never been Terry’s thing (nor is refinement, or as Terry calls it, "acting snobby"). He does know how to repair the batsuit now. Mostly.

“Gordon was right, huh?” she says, as Terry hauls his still unconscious brother out of the Batmobile. Terry just growls at her, and she smiles back, unrepentant. “Bruce is going to kill you.”

He shrugs one shoulder. “I think he sees Barbara’s point, too. About if he's doing this either way, I'd better make sure he's trained for it. Anyway, he mostly lets me make my own mistakes now. I just hope this isn’t one of them.” He props Matt up in a chair. He’s not the same person as Bruce. That could be better or worse for Robin. He will be a friend, he is a brother. But he can’t go too easy.

“So are you going to give him the costume?”

“Maybe,” Terry says. “If I do, I need him to respect me. I don’t know if that’s going to work. I want to talk to him first. See what he says about some things. Try to instill some respect for the Batman persona, at least, if not for me.”

The gas bombs don’t last that long; Matt’s starting to stir. Terry crouches in front of him and fixes his best bat glare on his face.

“Ahh!” Matt says when his eyes open. He squirms a little, and then yells, “Help! Help! I’ve been kidnapped by a fake Batman!”

Terry’s kind of proud and annoyed at the same time. He comes out of his crouch and covers Matt’s mouth. “No one can hear you yelling, kid, and I’m the real deal.” He moves his hand when it seems like Matt’s not going to start yelling again soon.

“You’re a fake. Batman doesn’t kidnap people.”

Terry sighs, bites back a comment about it not being kidnapping if it’s your legal guardian hauling you off. That would be hard to explain in court, anyway. “You want to be Robin.”

Matt scowls, a little defensive. “Yeah, so?”

“So consider this your trial and interview.” Matt’s eyes widen a little.

“Really? For real? You’re not just slamming me?”

Max smirks a little and leaves off whatever she’s doing with the Cave’s computers, coming over to stand beside him. Matt jumps because he hadn’t heard her coming up from behind. “You’re giving him an interview? Really?”

“I don’t see why not.” Terry crosses his arms over his chest.

“Are you two, like, dating?” Matt asks. “The entire city wants to know, you know.”

Terry sighs. “No. There’s a condition, though. Well, there will be a lot of conditions.”

Matt’s face falls. “What?”

“If I decide you’re not Robin, it means I don’t think you’re suited for this job. Promise me if I say no you’ll get rid of...this.” He fingers the collar of Matt’s suit. “No more crimefighting.”

Matt considers it for a long moment. “...I promise,” he agrees.

Terry doesn’t know if he means it, but at least it’s something. He leans in, hands on the chair arms, and glares. “Tell me why I should let a thirteen year old fight crime. You’re just a kid.”

Max is trying not to laugh beside him.

“Maturity is as much a function of life experience as age is,” Matt answers immediately. “It was only post-New Deal that the concept of teenagerhood came into existence; if I was thirteen and living before that I would be working by now, or maybe sent off to war, or _married_.” He makes an ick face. It's almost a prepared answer; Terry pictures Matt going over arguments in his head, just in case he ever met Batman.

“You were only sixteen when you started,” Max points out.

Matt blinks at them for a moment. “Sixteen? But then - you’re only nineteen!” Terry’s used to that reaction, mostly. Not that he runs around telling very many people he’s a teenager, but a few find out, or figure it out. Batman has an almost fictional, immortal image; without fail people imagine him to be late twenties and unaging. It’s almost funny.

Terry addresses Max, though. “I grew up real fast. You don’t stay a kid and do this job. Not when you see what I do. Not when you almost get killed on a weekly basis.” He looks at Matt again. “Your maturity’s not what I’m worried about, kid. You’d grow up fast, too. And I don’t know if I want that for you. I’d try to keep you away from the worst of it, but it’s still going to be guns and drugs and terrible people shooting at you with lasers. Sure you don’t want a few more years of childhood?”

“I live in _Gotham,_ ” Matt says, and it’s a little sad that that’s an answer.

Terry moves on. He wishes he’d had more time to think about the questions before he caught his brother sneaking out, but then, is there a magical question that reveals whether someone should be Robin?

“Hypothetical time. You find out one of your friends has a record. What do you do?” Terry wants to make sure his brother isn’t going to say what he thinks Batman wants to hear or subscribe to a totally black and white world view.

Matt looks confused for a minute. “Uh...nothing, I guess? While Gotham does have an unusually high recidivism rate, it doesn't make my hypothetical friend guilty of anything.” His brother’s pretty smart. Smarter than Terry is. “So...nothing, unless he’s actually up to something bad, you know? Plus, my brother has a record and he’s all right, I guess.”

Terry grins slightly under the cowl. “What a coincidence. So do I.” And maybe he’s already made his decision, subconsciously. He’s revealing a lot of small details.

Matt’s blinking in surprise again. “Batman has a record? That’s just....weird.”

“Everyone makes mistakes, kid. My partner gave me a second chance. What’s important is not making the same mistakes twice.”

“Heh,” Matt says. “I bet my brother forgets the milk again tonight.”

Terry keeps his expression very, very carefully neutral and ignores Max’s laughter. “Next question: Name three good reasons not to reveal your secret identity.”

“To your girlfriend,” Max adds helpfully. Terry looks at her. “What? The question works better if it’s not just in general, you know.”

“I could compromise my safety,” Matt replies. “And the safety of you and Batwoman.” He holds up two fingers. “Second, I could compromise my family’s safety. Third, I could compromise my girlfriend’s safety, if people found out she knew. Like that kid on the Net awhile back.” Batman nods. It was that third one he’d forgotten that time. “Plus, there’s non-safety issues that could come up, like blackmail.”

Terry grunts, satisfied. “Batwoman?”

She shrugs. “I didn’t know you were bringing him in tonight. Put him through the simulator and the beginner’s workout while I think about it.”

Terry’d been pretty much planning on doing that anyway, even though he knows what Matt’s capable of, more or less. Terry’s taught him the basics of self-defense over the years; living in Gotham he'd felt it necessary. But it’ll be good for Matt to know what he’s getting into. “You’re going to be doing this almost every night,” he said. “No slagging off.” He hands Matt a basic kevlar outfit - not Robin’s, not quite yet. “Even missing one night makes a difference in your strength and endurance, and your flexibility...”

“Batman,” Max says, and he refocuses, not sure whether to be amused or horrified at how much he's parroting Bruce. His mentor must be so proud right now. He plugs in the settings and sends Matt into the sim.

Unsurprisingly, Matt does terribly, even with the kevlar; he’s been trained for hand to hand but he doesn’t know how to tumble, and he doesn’t know how to deal with guns. Still, there’s a foundation. Bruce is watching from his hidden place over by the computers and nods once at Terry, approving. If Bruce thinks it’s possible, then he’ll accept it.

He hauls Matt out after awhile and sets him on weights and other exercises to improve his body conditioning. Matt is thirteen, so he complains and groans and grouses, but not too much, and he does what he’s supposed to. Terry recognizes this part of Matt from himself; he’ll complain a lot and loudly, but he’ll do it.

Training with the suit, training in weapons, those will come after he has more foundation. Terry finally stops him when he’s starting to waver with exhaustion. Batwoman finds him and says that she’s got no problem, and she’s going to patrol since no one’s been out. He nods and tells her to stay linked and be careful, and sits Matt down in a chair, giving him a fresh bottle of water, a towel, and a snack. “But wait on the snack for a few minutes to catch your breath, okay?”

Matt nods, drooping. “Are we done?” he asks. “Do I get the job?”

Terry crouches in front of him. “I’ll take you home in a few minutes. As to the second - I will make an offer, _but-_ “ he works it in before Matt gets too excited. “-I do need you to promise me something. I will eventually be bringing you on patrol with me. When you’re eighteen you can go out on your own, if you still want to be involved.” He isn’t going to assume Matt would still be there. He isn’t going to pressure him. “And I want you to know that if it isn’t right for you, you can stop. No one is going to make you be Robin.”

Matt nods, like he can’t possibly imagine ever not wanting to be Robin. Terry smirks a little, because, well. He knows what it is to be Batman now, but he wouldn’t give it up. He’s not sure he ever could. He and Bruce are alike that way - Bruce might not still be patrolling the streets, but he is still Batman.

“You will have to make decisions on patrol,” Terry continues. “I will let you make as many as I can, and you will learn from your mistakes, the same way that I did. But sometimes I will give you an order. Sometimes Batwoman will give you an order. I have a partner who was the first Batman, and we all listen when he gives an order because he is oldest and he has the most experience.” He’s pretty sure he hears Bruce snort. Okay, so maybe he doesn’t always listen. He’s getting better, though - Bruce is pretty much always right. At least about Batman stuff.

“You must promise me right now that you will obey _all_ of us. No matter what you think of me as a person. If you act willfully disobedient because of what you think of me I will take the costume back so fast that your goddamn head will spin, you read me?”

Matt’s gaping at him a little. “You just said goddamn,” he says. “I don’t think Batman is supposed to say goddamn.” He looks confused, too, probably because of Terry’s phrasing. Terry’s not worried about him disobeying Max or Bruce; he doesn’t have the same need to buck authority that Terry himself has. But obeying his brother? That’s going to be a tough sell, and is probably the part of letting Matt wear the costume that he’s most worried about. And if Matt ignores him sometimes - well, he just hopes Matt lives through it. He ignores Bruce sometimes. He’ll only strip the costume if Matt isn’t listening because it’s coming from Terry.

“Do you promise?” he repeats, in his best scary-bat voice. His isn’t as terrifying as Bruce’s yet but it’s pretty good now; he’s had a lot of time to work on it.

“I _promise,_ ” Matt says eagerly.

Terry stands; looks at Bruce, who nods; and goes to get the Robin costume.


End file.
